Donald Trump’s public approval rating hits lowest level since inauguration, new poll finds
Public approval of President Donald Trump has dropped to its lowest level since his inauguration, according to a new poll.
Taken over four days in mid-May, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 38 percent of adults approved of Trump while 56 percent disapproved. The remaining 6 percent had "mixed feelings."
It followed accusations that the US leader mishandled classified information and meddled with an FBI investigation into his presidential campaign's links with Russia.
The poll found that Americans appear to have soured on Trump after a tumultuous week in the White House during which the president fought back a steady drumbeat of critical news reports.
The week started with revelations that Trump shared highly classified information with Russian diplomats in a private meeting.
That was followed by reports that former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, whom Mr Trump recently fired, had written memos expressing concerns that the president had pressured him to stop investigating his campaign ties to Russia.
Later in the week, the Justice Department appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to oversee an independent probe into contacts between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Mr Trump has denied colluding with the Russians and called ongoing efforts to investigate him a "witch hunt."
No politician in history, he said, "has been treated worse or more unfairly."
While the US leader remains popular with members of his own party, many rank-and-file Republicans appear to have backed off their support for the president during the past week.
Among Republicans, 23 percent expressed disapproval of Trump in the latest poll, up from 16 percent in the same poll last week.
The decline in support from Republicans appears to be a primary reason why Trump's overall approval rating is now at the lowest level since he took office.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English across the United States.
It gathered responses from 1,971 adults, including 721 Republicans and 795 Democrats.
It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of three percentage points for the entire group and four percentage points for the Democrats and Republicans.
Reuters
